Thursday, June 17, 2010

First days are always rough. I generally try to avoid them, but the hype was getting to me. Got there before 11:30am and still waited about 45 min. Felt lucky after getting our food as I weaved through the snaking line that soon rivaled that of RoliRoti. Small portions (maybe half the amount of a bowl at Santa Ramen for the same price), and no chopsticks (had to nab some from Slanted Door). The bowls were also styrofoam which makes practical sense, but isn't everything in the Ferry Building market supposed to be green?

Chicken was fried to order, but it tasted a bit under-seasoned and lacking in flavor. I saw linecook tasting some of the noodles for doneness which is always a good sign, so I was expecting good texture. They turned out to be gummy - probably rushed them out too soon because of the pressure.

Aside from these blips, I thought the pork was very nice and the broth rich and fatty, somewhat similar to Daikokuya's kotteri broth. The sous vide egg was a great touch and the snap peas had the perfect crunch. It'll take some time to work out the kinks, but there's definitely promise here. I might return on a cold rainy day when there's no wait, which won't be happening any time soon.